Brian Keith, who had such a great on-screen rapport with children, was a child actor himself. Born Nov. 14, 1921, in Bayonne, N.J., he was the son of actors Robert Keith and Helen Shipman. At age 3, he appeared in two films: Pied Piper Malone and The Other Kind of Love. His parents divorced when he was young.

He continued to act on stage and radio until World War II, during which he served with distinction as a Marine. After the war, he returned to the silver screen in such films as Arrowhead and Five Against the House.

With the advent of television, Keith began appearing often in 1950s anthology series such as Undercurrent, Campbell Soundstage and Studio 57. His first starring series role came in 1955's short-lived The Crusader, in which he played Matt Anders, who helped oppressed people in Communist countries.

His film career continued and included 1959's excellent The Young Philadelphians.

Keith's first wife was Frances Helm. After divorcing her, Keith married Judith Landon in 1955. They had two children and adopted three more. Their marriage would end in divorce.

The following year brought one of Keith's most memorable roles, as father Mitch Evers in the Disney comedy The Parent Trap. His manly but sensitive portrayal of the father of Hayley Mills' characters presaged his performance as Uncle Bill in Family Affair.

After performing--with Johnnie Whitaker--in The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!, Keith began his five-year Family Affair stint, for which he was nominated three times for an Emmy. In 1968, he continued his family comedy trend by starring in the pleasant comedy With Six You Get Eggroll.

After the 1971 cancellation of Family Affair, Keith began another family comedy called The Little People and renamed The Brian Keith Show in its second and final season. Keith and Shelley Fabares co-starred as father-and-daughter pediatricians, and Victoria Young played a nurse. Keith had married Young in 1970. They would have two children.

Throughout the 1970s, Keith starred in a variety of movies and TV movies and had roles in the series How the West Was Won and the miniseries Centennial.

In 1983, he began another successful series, Hardcastle and McCormick. In a departure from his affectionate family roles, Keith played a very tough retired judge. This irascible type of character would be one Keith would play in many of his later roles.

Along with various movies and TV movies, Keith made two more attempts at TV series in the 1980s. In 1987's The Pursuit of Happiness, Keith played a gruff historian. In 1989, he co-starred with his daughter by Victoria Young, Daisy Keith, in Heartland, as a cranky, bigoted Nebraskan. He played another gruff character in Walter and Emily, his last series attempt, which co-starred Cloris Leachman.

Until his death in 1997, Keith continued appearing in movies and TV movies and in guest appearances in such shows as Touched by an Angel and Walker, Texas Ranger.